Rain began in the darkness, and then the lighting arrived with the wind and thunder. The storm system that had camped from Arkansas to Ohio broke free early Sunday morning, shifting east, bringing its hard edge of severe storms over Alabama. It crawled along, periodically illuminating the skies with vivid explosions, roiling with booming thunder, dumping rain and rain and more rain for hours leading up to the Bridge Street Half Marathon presented by SportsMed.
Runners can handle rain and wind. Lightning? Nah, that’s a no-go. Flooded streets? Erm, not optimal. Running Lane race directors Will Rodgers and Sean Allan watched and huddled with Huntsville Police Department officials at Bridge Street Town Center. A notice went out to anxious runners about 6 a.m.: hang tight, we’ll let you know. Closer to 7 a.m., things still were a mess. Another update.
And then, after contemplating everything from canceling — the worst option — to waiting, which wasn’t optimal for a retail shopping complex opening at mid-morning, they hit upon a solution. The Bridge Street Half Marathon would go underground.
Instead of a 13.1-mile route through Cummings Research Park, home of the previous five races, a new route was measured in the parking garage. Thirteen miles in a parking garage? Canceling would stink like a roadkill possum in summer. That truly was the last, worst, “we don’t wanna” option. Rodgers and Allan, and their team, wanted to make it happen. That they pulled it off will be remembered for years.
Will there be another parking garage race? Maybe not. Probably not. Who knows? This might become a thing. But for now, who other than 493 people from 20 states including California, Arizona, Washington, Ohio, the Carolinas, Texas and elsewhere, can say they completed a half-marathon in a garage while it stormed outside, after a literal last-minute adjust-on-the-fly pivot?
“The first two loops were 0.31 and then after that 0.75,” Rodgers told TVO. “There was an issue with the first big loop. Originally it was supposed to be two small loops and 17 big loops, so we had to pivot again and it was 20 loops total.”
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Almost 500 people running loops in a parking garage sounds cramped and weird. But you know what? Everyone who wanted to do it stuck around, got into the groove and helped make lemonade from a truckload of lemons.
Erick Kigen of Huntsville got the win in 1:17:28, settling into a consistent groove over the course of the 20 loops. Daniel Sillivant of Huntsville was second in 1:18:33, and Christian Schrandt of Madison was third in 1:19:29.
Emma Hardman of Huntsville claimed the women’s title, finishing sixth in 1:25:22. Alena Workman of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was second (15th) in 1:31:03. Emily Golden from Tifton, Ga., was third (24th) in 1:36:41.
Due to the live chip-tracking system being underground for the race, the existing results may be wonky. Rodgers said his crew is working to make sure they’re all good, and will correct anything that is out of whack.
See all of the results here, along with photos by Spencer Cox here.
